Bangalore: Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp( NYSE-UTX) company, has established an endowed professorship in Gas Turbine Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

Through the endowed chair, Pratt & Whitney will work with the Indian Institute of Science on fundamental and applied research initiatives that support the design and development of more efficient and environment friendly gas turbine engines. The chair will focus on advanced research in propulsion system technology.

"With this chair we will develop a stronger relationship with the institute. We will have better access to key technical talent here at the institute. It also helps create an emphasis on Gas Turbine Engineering, which is our primary field of interest. The endowed chair will further strengthen the relationships between Pratt & Whitney, United Technologies, the Indian educational system and the Indian Government," said Paul Adams, Senior Vice President, Pratt & Whitney engineering.

"The Indian Institute of Science has outstanding technical capabilities that compliments our fundamental research needs," he added.

“By expanding its long term relationship with the Indian Institute of Science, Pratt & Whitney will have increased visibility of future talent in the gas turbine engine field and also will be in a position to recommend future engineers to key Indian business partners, including Infotech and the National Aerospace Laboratories,” said Prof.B.N.Raghunandan, former Chairman of the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

Prof. Raghunandan said that several institutions had sent their nominations for this chair.

This is Pratt & Whitney's second endowed chair in India. The first is a Chair in Science and Engineering that was created at the University of Hyderabad.

"We do research here at NAL, where we have worked with NAL for the last few years and we have a number of aerodynamic rigs that allow us to do fundamental aerodynamic research here in Bangalore," said Paul Adams. Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL was also present at the endowment ceremony. Three years ago the company inaugurated a series of test rigs along with NAL. NAL's 14-seater Saras plane, currently under development, is powered by Pratt and Whitney engines.

"We have several IISc employees working for us in the US. In India, through our affiliates, we have over a 1000 engineers across UTC, some of them working specifically on our gas turbine products," he added.

In the light of the current developments, Pratt & Whitney’s R&D work being done out of India, has the potential to increase two fold.

Paul Adams said that Pratt & Whitney was not actively pursuing any defence tie-ups in India. He also said that Pratt & Whitney currently had no plans to participate in the Kaveri engine development programme.

He indicated that the possible procurement of the C-17 Aircraft by India could be an opportunity since it uses Pratt & Whitney engines. When asked about offsets, he said that the offset would be held by the aircraft manufacturer, who could in turn contract it to Pratt & Whitney. However it is too early to identify who we will work with, he added.

In the near future Pratt & Whitney is likely to enter into the component repair space. In the long term the company would also consider setting up an engine facility.

The company is currently working on its Geared Turbofan engine which boasts of double digit reductions in fuel consumption, CO 2 and NO 2 emissions, engine noise, and operating costs. The company is starting the first generation of the geared turbo fan product. It has been selected for the Mitsubishi regional jet and the Bombardier C series. This engine will have a 15% increase in fuel efficiency and less than half the noise footprint of current engines. A good portion of the R&D work on this engine is being done out of India.